(Minghui.org) Greetings, respected Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I started to practice Falun Dafa in 1999 with my mom when I was four years old. I came to Canada in 2016 on a student visa. I then started participating in Dafa projects, including NTD Television and New Realm Studios. I’m currently a reporter for NTD Television.
I had the honor of participating in Shen Yun reporting post-production. Throughout the process, I made rapid progress in cultivation. I am so grateful for everything Master Li (Dafa’s founder) has done for me. I further strengthened my righteous thoughts.
I set a goal for myself before I started the Shen Yun reporting. The reporting would take about a month. No matter what tests I would face, I must discipline myself and maintain my xinxing. I would do my best to complete my job and at the same time cooperate well with others. If anything unreasonable happened, I could choose not to do it, but if I chose to do it, I needed to complete it well and without complaints. And so my cultivation journey of Shen Yun reporting began.
Two female practitioners and I drove to a city, over an hour from Toronto. We had to stay there for two nights. The first night, we returned to the hotel after the Shen Yun performance and got to work. The process included changing file names, backing up the videos, transcribing, script writing, doing voice-overs, and video editing. Every step required us to cooperate very well. Although I was the youngest of the three of us, and it was my first time participating in this project, I still tried to care for my fellow practitioners. I would try my best to help and ensure that everything was done properly. While they were sleeping, I went to eat and brought food back to the room, and boiled water for tea. When I looked back at my cultivation state a few years ago, these were things that I would not have done. Back then, I always felt that I’m the youngest one so I should be taken care of.
Since then, I have tempered myself in cultivation and my xinxing has improved. I hope that wherever I go I will be kind to people. I’m willing to go the extra mile to help and care for others. Perhaps Master saw how I have changed, my willing heart, and encouraged me.
I was editing in the living room in the early hours while the others slept. While editing, the computer’s language had to be in English, and I didn’t need to touch the keyboard except for some shortcut keys. However, the Chinese character for “you” popped up. It seemed a little weird but I really didn’t pay much attention. Then a few minutes later, another Chinese character, “great” popped up. The two words together mean “You are great!” I realized that Master was encouraging me.
Throughout the reporting, when I encountered extra work, I would try my best to get it done without any complaints. Overall, I felt satisfied. Maybe it was because my xinxing had truly improved very quickly during the process. When we were about to finish, I faced a harder test.
A practitioner and I were assigned to support post-production in another province. She said she couldn’t drive on highways, but if we carpooled with the two other practitioners it would be too crowded, so I offered to drive. With post-production, we usually had to work most of the night. Since it was about a 5-6-hour drive, we decided to share the expenses. On the day that I drove, she would do the production work. Likewise, on the last day, when I drove back to Toronto, she would be responsible for post-production. We would take turns doing the work in between.
Dramatic things happened that made me feel that everything had been prearranged. During my shifts, I didn’t need to stay up late due to various delays. However, whenever it was her turn, the workload would increase, which meant she had to work late and do extra work. My workload lessened and I felt uncomfortable. I constantly thought about how to help and sincerely offered to assist her, but she did not need my help. Should I just do the work? But it didn’t seem right to do that either. Finally, I decided to just let things take their natural course. I believe that Master knows best.
She worked very hard every day. She even took on additional responsibilities. I was so happy for her. After I started reporting for Shen Yun, I came to an enlightenment about cooperating with other practitioners that I never understood before: Although there should be no pursuit in Dafa projects, when we work together and cultivate our xinxing, as long as we try to assist Master in Fa-rectification with a true heart, it is truly following the principle of “no pain, no gain.” It is a precious opportunity to help with Shen Yun reporting. I am so blessed to be part of it. In the past, I would think that if other people take all the jobs, what’s left for me? Am I losing something equivalent in cultivation? So I would fight for the opportunity to do things, because I used to believe that the more I contributed to a Fa-rectification project, the more de (virtue) I would obtain. I later realized that this was a strong attachment to gain, fame, and self-interest. After I realized this, I did not make the same mistake again. I felt that practitioners who are younger than me have more opportunities. It is great that they are willing to contribute more and work hard.
On the second to the last day, the practitioner suddenly messaged me to say that her manager had asked her to return to Toronto early. She had to leave with the other two practitioners that night. That meant I had to drive the long distance back to Toronto by myself. I felt it was strange, so I called the manager to find out what had happened. I learned that things were not like what she had told me. I then understood that she didn’t want to drive back to Toronto with me. I suddenly felt uncomfortable and that I had been deceived and disrespected. I felt that she had broken her promise to share expenses. I shared my experience with another practitioner, who shared some of his xinxing tests while doing Shen Yun reporting with me. After the sharing, I felt better. I decided to bear all the expenses, which originally should have been shared.
When the Shen Yun reporting came to an end, my final test started. I tried hard to contain my emotions, a disturbed and unbalanced feeling. A practitioner told me that I must tolerate and pass this last xinxing test. She said that after you have endured this last hardship, you will feel delighted when you return home to Toronto. It will be because you have endured and passed this last test, that you will make great strides in your cultivation. Thereafter whenever I had negative thoughts, I tried to suppress and reject them.
I watched Shen Yun that night. While listening to the erhu soloist, I burst into tears. The emotion and an image that came from this song appeared before my eyes. I saw a mighty ocean, calm with no waves. I knew that it was Master’s benevolent compassion. Master is always there helping me, watching me elevate and grow in tiny increments.
On the way back to Toronto the next day, I stopped at a mall for a meal. When I was about to leave, a man dressed as a cartoon character waltzed up to me and gave me a lollipop. I looked at the lollipop in my hand and knew that I had passed the last test with Master’s help and encouragement and that my cultivation experience while doing Shen Yun reporting had come to an end.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2022 Canada Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)